Global Partnership, Local Action: Implementation Strategies for Development Effectiveness at Country Level International Workshop, Seoul, Dates: 18-19 November 2013 Venue: Plaza Hotel, Seoul, Republic of Korea CONCEPT NOTE Draft 10 October 2013 Background: The Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness was held in Busan, the Republic of Korea at the end of 2011. Bringing together political leaders, government representatives, parliamentarians, civil society organizations and private sector representatives from both developing and donor countries, the Forum sought to assess progress in improving the quality of aid and design a framework for development cooperation in a changing development context. The outcome document Busan Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation acknowledges differences between ODA and South/South cooperation, but seeks to provide a basis for cooperation of all involved actors and achieve synergy of different modalities of cooperation at the country level. Since the High Level Forum in Busan, over 160 countries and 45 organizations have endorsed the agreement. Around half of the countries that endorsed the agreement are in the category of middle income. Many middle income countries increasingly become providers of development solutions, at the same time still relying on development cooperation to support their development needs. Few months after the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, the working arrangements for the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC) have been agreed upon by the OECD-DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness. The Global Partnership emerged as a result of the agreement, brings together a wide range of countries and organizations from around the world that are committed to ensuring that development co-operation is effective. With a light global structure, it
leaves countries significant leeway in determining their own priorities and finding solutions. Mexico will host the first ministerial-level meeting of the Global Partnership on 15-16 April 2014. This meeting provides an opportunity for the international community to examine how effective development co-operation can be advanced in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. Since Busan HLF, some countries have made significant headway in advancing effectiveness of development co-operation at the country level, adopting and strengthening aid policies, conducting development fora and taking measures to increase transparency of development cooperation, expand partnerships, such as: Some traditional donors, both bilateral and multilateral, continued tackling the unfinished business and reforming their approach to development cooperation, taking measures to increase effectiveness and coherence. A number of Busan Building Blocks continues their thematic actions on the voluntary basis, supporting research, conceptual work and country-level pilots on specific themes. Innovative initiatives, such as country-level knowledge hubs were launched by a number of countries to take a more systematic approach to knowledge sharing in support of South/South and triangular cooperation. Taking stock of the ongoing initiatives and progresses and challenges drawing on country-level initiatives will not only be useful to give an impetus to GPEDC, but also build significant evidence base and lessons learned in feeding into the discussion on implementation of the new development framework in the post-2015 development agenda. The first ministerial-level meeting in this context presents an opportunity to amplify that progress and scale up effective cooperation in ways that are fit for the post- 2015 landscape, drawing on the following substantive discussions: Progress since Busan: How far have we come in implementing the vision set out in Busan? Partnering for effective taxation and domestic resource mobilisation for development Middle-income countries and effective development co-operation Knowledge sharing; south-south and triangular co-operation Effective development co-operation and the private sector While the Steering Committee plays an instrumental role in deepening and broadening consultations on these topics in sharpening the key deliverables for the ministerial-level meeting and build up strong buy-in from all the members of the Global Partnership, there will be a need of broad-based discussion across themes in order to take stock of the implementation, identify challenges and suggest ways forward.
A number of regional initiatives have been organized, including the Asia Workshop on the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation organized by the Government of Bangladesh as well as sub-regional workshop of Eastern and Southern Africa on development effectiveness. The workshops addressed the mixed progress in the GPEDC implementation across Asia as well as sub-region in Africa and highlighted the need for a more technical-level discussion to advance implementation in selected issues. The workshop therefore provides an opportunity to build on the outcomes of these regional initiatives and consultations as well as a number of various consultations spearheaded by the Steering Committee members to further deepen the stock-taking, drawing directly on country and regional experiences as well as voluntary initiatives led by the Building Blocks. Objective: The UNDP Seoul Policy Centre and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea will organize a 2 day international workshop at technical level focusing on country-level implementation of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation and to take stock of progress and challenges from the work of the Building Blocks. It also provides an opportunity to deepen substantive components of the agenda /thematic sessions of the first ministerial-level meeting, providing an opportunity to engage broader stakeholders on these substantive topics. It will consider: Policies, strategies and measures put in place by partner countries to implement the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (or advance its objectives at the country level cases of the country-level work of new cooperation & effectiveness policies, strategies and measures put together by traditional and emerging donors, building blocks, civil society and the private sector. Key challenges encountered by countries to advance effective development cooperation and policy coherence for development. Including institutional capacity, policy enabling environment, etc. and potential opportunities presented by global and regional policy dialogue and development cooperation architecture. Drawing on these examples and experiences, key proposed deliverables for each of the substantive topics of the ministerial-level meeting, in particular focusing on what may be the key actions of broader development stakeholders may agree to take forward in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. This workshop therefore aims to inform the preparation of the first ministerial-level Meeting in Mexico in complementing the evidence generated through the global
monitoring process with qualitative stock-taking of progresses based on country-level analysis and evidence drawn from the work of the Building Blocks. Format: The two-day technical meeting will have an open and interactive format. The discussion session will be organized around lessons learnt from implementation of the Global Partnership since the beginning of 2012 at the country level, taking into consideration of the substantive topics of the ministerial-level meeting. Short survey will also be administered during the workshop focusing on recommendations for the ministerial-level meeting. Background documentation: The short report on the challenges of implementation will be produced by a Working Group comprising various institutions and making use of the preliminary monitoring data and available analytical reports. The report will identify various sets of issues related to implementation of GPEDC at country level. The discussion at the workshop will try to come up with practical solutions to the problems identified in the report. Thematic papers will be commissioned on the issues that are deemed important in preparation for the first ministerial-level meeting of the Global Partnership hosted by Mexico to inform the substantive lessons learned to feed into the preparation of the ministerial-level meeting. Any other relevant documents will also be shared by the Building Block leads. Participants: The international workshop will reflect the principles of broadened partnership and bring together representatives of the governments involved in GPEDC implementation, as well as the countries that are not involved with GPEDC and engaged with alternative models of development cooperation. The participants will also include representatives of active Busan Building Blocks, relevant thematic and regional initiatives, local governments, private sector, parliamentarians and civil society organizations. Given the focus on country level implementation, the participants are expected to be directly involved in work related to international cooperation and development effectiveness. Expected outcomes: Practical suggestions to the countries on overcoming challenges to GPEDC implementation.
Recommendations and key proposed actions/deliverables to be considered for the first ministerial-level meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation to further advance and deepen country level implementation and progress; Key lessons learned and recommendation on development cooperation/partnership in the context of the post 2015 discussions on implementation mechanism. Technical rapporteuring will be organized during the session to make sure that each session comes up with specific recommendations. They will be integrated into the report with clear diagnosis and recommendations. In addition, the workshop will serve as a catalyst for a community of practice on development effectiveness across regions bringing together development practitioners from across the world and encouraging exchange of solutions for further county level implementation. Tentative Annotated Agenda Day 1 08:30-09:00 09:00-9:20 09:20-10:20 Registration Welcome Address - MOFA (TBC) Congratulatory Address UNDP (TBC) Global Partnership: Key elements of the ministerial meeting Key political narrative of the ministerial Key elements of the substantive agenda for the ministerial meeting Reactions:
Q&A Representatives of partner counties Representatives of providers of development cooperation Representatives of civil society, private sector, parliaments etc. Session 1: Key Cross Country Implementation Challenges 10:20- Chair: TBD Presentation of a report on problems in 11:15 implementation - Joint UNDP-OECD Team (TBD) Key discussants/presentations Country example implementation challenge 1 Country example implementation challenge 2 Regional perspectives on implementation challenges Asia (drawing on regional consultation) Regional perspectives on implementation challenges Africa (drawing on regional consultation) Discussions to focus on key take away messages for the ministerial-level meeting on progress since Busan. The discussion focuses on drawing on country and regional perspectives, examines key deliverables and building consensus around what the progress since Busan would build on its complementary evidence for possible actions, etc. 11:15-11:30 Coffee break
Session 2: Breakout Sessions: Key Cross Country Implementation Challenges 11:30- Venue: Break out rooms 12:30 Through the multi-stakeholder discussions the participants of the breakout sessions will discuss various elements of the cross-country implementation challenges identified in the report. 12:30 Luncheon 13:30 Session 2(cont.): Key Cross Country Implementation Challenges 13:30- Venue: Break out rooms 14:30 14:30- Report back from break out groups & discussion of 15:15 Session II 15:15- Coffee break 15:30 Session 3: South-South and Triangular Co-operation for Sustainable Development 15:30 Chair: TBD Opening remarks 17:30 Knowledge hubs (10 min) Example Asia - (10 min) Example Africa (10 min) Example Latin America (10 min) Q&A Countries of the global South are increasingly providing development assistance bilaterally and regionally through new financing arrangements that offer alternatives or complement the approaches of traditional donors. The session shall focus on
approaches used and challenges encountered by newly established development cooperation agencies from the global South. Session 4: Key progress and challenges emerging from voluntary actions/coalitions Building Blocks 17:30- Chair TBD 18:45 Brief presentations from Building Block leads on key progress and challenges - Building Block leads 19:00-21:00 Discussions to focus on key take away messages for the ministerial-level meeting examining key deliverables and building consensus around what the ministerial-level meeting may consider for key deliverables. Reception hosted by the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre and MOFA Short dinner speech will be delivered on future of development cooperation Day 2 09:00-09:20 Keynote Speech Co-Chair (TBD) Mexico (TBC)
Session 1: Donor Strategies in Response to the Global Partnership 09:20- Expert panel 10:40 United Kingdom Republic of Korea TBD Discussants: Country 1 (10 min) Country 2 (10 min) Q&A 20 min Reforms introduced by the donor agencies have a significant impact on the aid environment at the country level. In this session selected donor agencies will discuss their strategies to address the GPEDC. 10.40- Coffee break 11.10 Session 2: Development Cooperation in Middle Income Countries 11:10- Chair: TBD 12:30 Presentation by the paper on Development Cooperation in Middle Income Countries Jonathan Glennie Discussants: Country 1 Country 2 Country 3 Introduction of breakout sessions 12.30 Luncheon 13.30 Session 2(cont.): Breakout Sessions: Messages for the Ministerial 13.30- Venue: Break out rooms
15:30 Through the multi-stakeholder discussions the participants of the breakout sessions will discuss elements of the second implementation challenge 15.30-15.50 15.50-16.20 Coffee break Venue: Plenary room Report back from break out groups & discussion of Session II Session 3: Building Global Partnership towards Post-2015 16.20 Chair: Mexico 18.30 Recommendations for the Ministerial meeting of the Global Partnership Partnership for consensus-building towards the post- 2015 goals (TBD) Overall key messages on implementation - Summary of the 2 days and suggestions for the way forward & post 2015 implementation (selected rapporteurs from the groups) Panel discussion & interaction with the broader audience Wrap up Joined by renowned development practitioners active in the post-2015 debate this session aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion on the future of development
19:00-21:00 partnership. Reception and Private Sector Marketplace